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Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice

Peanut Butter Slice

This peanut butter slice is adapted from the original Degustabox The Chia Co recipe. I had to make some changes to it as my kids wouldn’t eat cranberries if they were the last food on earth, and human survival depended on them. So I went for the freeze dried raspberries in the cupboard, and filled them out with some cacoa nibs for a raspberry and chocolate flavour to this ‘slice’ which could also quite easily be called a flapjack, except it has no sugar or butter and isn’t baked.Peanut Butter Slice

So, if you want a sugar free, butter free, no-bake flapjack, congratulations. You’ve found it in the form of a peanut butter slice.

I must then immediately caveat that by saying that in the 0 – 4C temperatures we’re having at the moment, these hold really well straight out the fridge. It’s likely that in hot temperatures, you could end up with a delicious peanut butter muesli. Try it and let me know?

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox:

And here’s the adapted peanut butter slice version.

Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Healthy, Free From
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 70g whole almonds, roasted
  • 150g oats, toasted
  • 75g raisins
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 50g cacao nibs
  • 5g freeze dried raspberries
  • 2½ tbsp chia seeds (about 15g)
  • 105g honey
  • 100g smooth peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Pre heat the oven to 160C (320F)
  2. Place the oats on a baking tray and toast for 15 - 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn. On a separate tray, toast almonds for 10 - 12 mins, allowing to cool slowly.
  3. Add the almonds to the Thermomix®, pulse quickly twice.
  4. Add oats, raisins, coconut, cacao nibs, raspberries, chia seeds, honey and peanut butter.
  5. Mix reverse/speed 4/ 2 minutes
  6. If you're not using a pan with a removable base, line a 20cmx20cm tray or pan with baking paper, tip the mixture in and press down into the corners, flattening the mixture to make it even.
  7. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
  8. Once it's set, remove, slice and cut into bars or bites.
  9. Store in the fridge.

These are easily adaptable and are very tasty. They make fabulous breakfast bars on the go and can hold a plethora of hidden healthy foods that might not otherwise go down well. They are very filling and they freeze well too, so  you can make a huge batch, and keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer, so they’re ready when you need them.

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Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread

I enjoy my sourdough. I like sourdough bread. I feed my sourdough every day, like a good parent. But sometimes, I just don’t fancy a straight up sourdough bread.

One thing I really love is cinnamon. I have about 8 supermarket spice jars and a 1kg bag in the store cupboard! That’s some good stuff, cinnamon.

I decided to sweeten the bread with cinnamon sugar left over from making pancakes, and threw in a cup full of raisins, and see what happens. It was so good! My daughters love it, and it’s a favourite here now.Sourdough Bread

This is quite a dense bread, unless you leave it to rise for ages – it’s one of those sourdoughs that does better for a 12 hour rise.

It also makes a huge batch – two regular sized loaves. The Thermomix® TM31 copes with it, but just. The T5 should be better with the bigger capacity bowl. You can split the ingredients in two and just do the Thermomix® bit in two batches.

I hope you like this bread. We love it!Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough

Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Bread, Baking
Serves: 2 loaves
Ingredients
  • 750g strong white bread flour
  • 400g lukewarm water
  • 40g olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 200g sourdough starter
  • 100g sugar
  • 10g cinnamon
  • 150g raisins
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix® bowl
  2. Mix on speed 6 for 10 seconds to combine everything
  3. Then knead for 3 minutes on the dough setting (wheat sheaf)
  4. Meanwhile, oil or butter your loaf tin.
  5. Note: This makes a HUGE loaf, so if you're using a standard loaf tin, you'll need to separate the dough into two.
  6. Remove from Thermomix® and place on a tray. Halve the dough now if you're going to.
  7. You need to 'fold' it into a ball. Essentially treat it like a sheet you're tucking in to a mattress - take one side and fold it under, then the other, and fold it under, then the final two, till it's a 'ball'.
  8. Place in the bread tin, then cut deep slits along the top - this is to prevent the sides of the bread splitting apparently.
  9. Now here things get tricky. There are as many instructions for making sourdough bread as there are recipes, so here's what I did.
  10. Leave the dough to rest for six hours, in a warm, but not hot place.
  11. Heat the oven to 200C and cook for 30 - 40 minutes. Test to see if it's ready by knocking on the crust. If it sounds hollow it's ready.
  12. Leave the bread to cool slightly before cutting.